GREAT REPORT

I took Jacob to see the Cardologist today. We thought from the medical papers from Ukraine that he may have some serious heart problems, but he doesn't. The doctor said his heart is perfectly normal. Thank You, Lord!!! Thanks also to everyone for your prayers.

Jacob is adjusting so well. He is a typical 2 year old ago. He has his share of tantrums but for the most part he is a very happy child. He understands everything we say to him and he is starting to say a few more words. It's slow but that is to be expected. He finally said "Nana" yesterday.

I am told he is doing fine at daycare. He stays with a wonderful lady from church that keeps kids. He is actually saying her name too.

We have had a time with getting clothes to fit him because he is so skinny, so we went shopping today. ALL DAY. He did so good. I think he actually likes shopping, especially more than Mama does. I am not a shopper. Well, I wasn't a shopper until Jacob came along. Evidently, I can shop all day when it is for him. We may go broke. :)

I am still trying to fit everything into my schedule that comes with a new addition to the family, so it may be awhile before I get to post again. I plan to send out Announcements, someday. And I still have Thank You notes to write. We really do appreciate everything you all have done for us.

We Love You,

James, Teresa, & Jacob

P.S.- Here are some pictures.

HOME AT LAST!!!!

Thank You, Lord!!! It has been a long journey, but it has been well worth it. Jacob did fine on the flight home. The first flight we both slept for an hour and he did great. We arrived 30 minutes late but it was fine. We had plenty of time to find our gate. The flight from Paris to Cincinnati he slept 2 hours and he got fussy and whiney through a couple of hours of it but no worse than the restaurant fits just longer. All in all he did good. The last flight he was so happy and excited. We actually arrived 15 minutes early. We got off the plane running. He was a little shy with everyone at first, even James, but within a few minutes he let James hold him. We went to eat at Cracker Barrel and the food was wonderful. :) He did great, no fits!!!! When we started to get out of the car Gladys opened the door on Jacob's side and I handed him to her and he was fine with it. She even carried him inside. He let her hold him one more time. He slept on the way home, he was so tired. He slept 11 hours.

Mama was able to hold him the next day. She bribed him by offering to go outside. She and he swung together on his new swing set. Mama said she was afraid it would be a month before she got to hold him. She was on Cloud 9 yesterday. Daddy still hasn't held him but he is playing with him. It won't be long. Jacob and his new cousin, Matthew played together so well. Jacob has even hugged Matthew twice and kissed him once. Matthew kinda hugged back but wasn't really sure what to do. It would have been a great picture. Jacob is already mimicking Matthew 's actions.

Jacob just woke up and is saying Mama, Daddy, Mama, Daddy so I will post more later.

We still need your prayers. Jacob has some health issues that we checking on that could require surgery. I will post more details later. God knows the need.

We love you all and are soooooo glad to be home.

Love,

JTJ

LAST POST FROM UKRAINE!!!!!

We got the medical and visa completed today. They both went well. We will be leaving the apartment at 4:30 AM to get to the airport to fly to Paris at 6:50 AM, so this post will be very short. I plan to be in bed in the next half hour. Pray I actually sleep. I didn't last night. Jacob has been great today. I think he knows we are going home or may be he senses a difference in me.

Again, I want to thank everyone for all you have done for us. We love and miss you and will see you soon.

God Bless,

Teresa & Jacob

DRIVING HABITS OF SIMFEROPOL

DRIVING HABITS OF SIMFEROPOL

I have waited until we only have one day left here before mentioning this country’s driving habits. Mama would have worried too much. Let me just start by saying there is no way to completely explain. It is something you would have to experience to completely understand but I wanted to try. All drivers give new meaning to tailgating, nose clipping, weaving in and out of traffic, and lane switching just to gain one car length. Speaking of cars, I was misleading on the types of cars here. At first I just noticed most of the rundown old cars maybe due to area we were in. But after further inspection, there are quiet a few Mercedes Benz, BMW’s, Lexus, and Cadillac’s just to mention a few. There are a lot of mid size Buses (Mercedes Benz) and Vans that are used like a taxi service.

These drivers are skilled drivers to be able to drive the way they do and not have any major accidents that we have seen and only 5 minor ones. I don’t know if I can explain this and it be understood but the drivers around here drive wherever they want to. If you are suppose to have two-lane traffic (one car going in each direction) you will most likely have three with cars parked on the side of road. You can literally reach out and touch the car next to you. And when I say they drive wherever they want that includes driving and parking on the sidewalk. I asked Sasha about this and he said there wasn’t enough parking on the streets so they use the sidewalks too.

Watch out peds. You had better be fast crossing the road. Most drivers don’t slow down. It looked like one our taxi drivers came within an inch of hitting a guy walking down the road. We weren’t going fast but I’m sure it still would have hurt the guy.

Then there are the daring little Moped drivers that aren’t required to wear helmets (and they don’t). No one seems to wear seatbelts either and they don’t have carseats.

We have even seen two guys in wheelchairs wheeling down the road with the traffic. One of them was asking for money.

Sharon (who was here in January) mentioned in the blog comments that a red and yellow traffic light means “Go” to some drivers that can’t seem to wait for green. I had to laugh when I read it. It is so true no matter what region of Ukraine you are in.

Most speed limits are the same as ours, except the freeway in Kiev. It is 100 mph (not km). There are very few traffic lights and stop signs. Mostly yield signs, which I’m not sure they pay much attention to. Then there are the around-abouts, which are a couple of circle type intersection, which everyone just merges into wherever they find space. It truly amazes me there isn’t a pile-up everyday.

Believe it or not, most of the time I wasn’t scared riding around town. Mama, don’t worry only one or two more car ride and we are on our way HOME.

WE GOT IT!!

PRAISE THE LORD!!! WE GOT IT!!!

We now have Jacob’s passport. It took 15 minutes to get once we talked with the lady. She was nice this time. Paul wasn’t able to go with me but Tammy was. She was great. I did get to talk with Paul and he wished us luck. He went by the passport office to see us but we had already left. Paul has been wonderful and the kindest Ukrainian I have ever met. Paul said he hoped we had had some good experiences in Ukrainian and said maybe we would see each other again someday if I came back as a tourist. I said maybe. I really don’t see that happening.

I was supposed to leave Simferopol today at 2:40 PM, but the flight has been delayed to 6:25 PM. Typically, for this whole journey, but I’m OK with it. I still get back to Kiev in time to do the medical and visa tomorrow and I get to spend more time with Tammy. She has become a great friend. She and Matt are coming home in November for 2 months. I really hope they are going to be able to visit us and spend some time with us.

Our flight is now leaving Kiev for Paris at 6:50 AM which means we will at the airport at 4:50 AM. We leave Paris at 11:45 AM to arrive in Cincinnati at 3:00 PM, then onto to Huntsville at 5:00 PM to arrive at 5:13 PM. Note: This times at all local times. We will be leaving Kiev at 10:50 PM Wednesday Central Time.

Please pray that the trip home will be boring and uneventful and of course safe.

I want to thank each and every person for all your help, thoughts, and prayers. We will never forget it. Words can not express our gratitude. With my heart swelled, and a lump in my throat I sit here trying to find a way to let you all know just how much to us. We love you all very much!!!! To all the future adoptive parents reading this blog please feel free to contact us at anytime with any questions and good luck.

We will try to see as many of you as soon as we can. It will depend on Jacob and how quickly he adjusts. He has been amazing so far. He has welcomed most of the changes. He still doesn’t do well in restaurants. He didn’t do too well on the flight last night. I’m praying for a better flight today. He didn’t have much of a nap yesterday and it was past his bedtime. I have also found out he is afraid of Simba, Tammy’s big orange cat. He is doing a little better the longer we are here. I hope he is going to like Rowdy, our big orange cat.

One more time I have been meaning to mention. Becca gave me a Daily Bread booklet to read while I’ve been here and one of the things I read I have thought back on several times and it was so appropriate for the time here. It said, “Delay is not denial”. We have definitely been delayed beyond our expectations but we have not been denied. The Lord is so good.

We are Homeward Bound!!!!

Love,

Teresa & Jacob

STILL WAITING

Well, we had hoped for a passport today. No luck. We are now hoping for Monday. We won't find out for sure until Monday. If it has been sent to Simferopol Jacob and I will travel to and from Simferopol Monday and still be able to come home Wednesday. If we do make it to Simferopol on Monday I will try to post a short note letting everyone know.

I have a couple of cute pictures of Jacob I thought I would post today. We have found that he loves Cocoa Puffs, at least Ukraine's version of them and can make a huge mess eating them.

I have felt the prayers. Please keep praying. There is still a lot to get thru before we get home. I just finished reading Sarah and Anthony's blog. Somehow, I had missed the post about the flight home. Now I'm a little concerned about our flight. I hope we don't that many problems leaving.

Jacob and I both miss home. He just doesn't realize it yet. I hope to go to the playground, park, or the fountains yesterday. Maybe I will get some more good pictures.

We love and miss you all.

Teresa & Jacob

PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE

I just hung up the phone with Sasha. Good news. The passport office has the information and it is correct. They just received the information a half hour ago and haven't printed the passport yet. It is possible they will print it today but probably not until tomorrow. It is possible if they print it today it can be overnighted today but probably not until tomorrow. It is possible if they overnight it tomorrow that it will arrive Saturday rather than Monday. If so I should be able to pick it up Saturday. Then I would be able to do the medical and visa on Monday and leave Tuesday. If not, then Wednesday should be the latest. I don't mean to be impatient but please pray for Tuesday.

I will post more about the date and flight time.

I have a couple of pictures to post finally. I haven't actually felt like taking a lot of pictures and we haven't been doing much to take many pictures. Jacob is eating his usual, french fries. He was so cute tonight. He drinks so fast that he gets a little choked and I pat him on the back. Well, tonight at , you guessed it, McDonald's he got a little choked and was trying to pat himself on the back.

Please keep praying for Beth. They still need the ID number entered so she can get the passports for Alex and Anna.

I can finally say see you all SOON. We love and miss you and appreciate all the prayers.

God Bless,

Teresa & Jacob

DAY 18 FOR PASSPORT & COUNTING

Sorry I haven't posted in a couple of days but not much as changed. Still no passport. The problem with the ID number supposedly has been fixed and the passport application was sent to Kiev just to find out they have Jacob's name wrong. They have Maxim as his first name and both the Tax Code office and the Passport office say his name is correct in their systems. Hopefully, tomorrow someone will figure out where the problem is and fix it. If so, I will travel to & from Simferopol on Thursday, back in Kiev Friday to do medical and visa and home on Saturday if I can get a flight. That is a whole other issue I have run into. I may not be able to fly home until the 8th. Delta is working it. At this rate, I may not be able to leave before the 8th anyway. And I say able not ready, because I am so beyond ready!!!! I have considered going back to Simferopol tomorrow and stay with Tammy for so many reasons I can't begin to name them all. And Tammy has been sure a wonderful friend it would be great to spend more time with her and Matt.

On a more positive and humorous note, Jacob bit his tongue tonight and stuck it out at me and said "Rub it". Not that him biting his tongue is either positive or humorous. He didn't cry so it didn't hurt too bad, but it was so cute how he said it.

I can't wait to get home and tell you more stories that I can't or won't post. It may take me a few days or even weeks to want to talk about this place. Right now I have some very bitter feeling about Ukraine as a whole. Some of the people have been wonderful which helps, but for the most part I'm having a hard time dealing with the bureaucarcy or lack of. OK, I have vented, somewhat.

I will post again when I know more. I know everyone is praying very hard for this part of our journey to be over so we can start a life at home and I thank you all from the depths of my heart.

Deepest appreciation,

Teresa & Jacob

RESPONSES TO SOME COMMENTS

There isn't a lot going on so I thought I would respond to some comments. I love hearing from all of you but I haven't responded to all comments. Jacob is napping so I'm going to try to shortly.

Sonya - Maybe we should have told UK the Beck's were coming over here 2 weeks ago. We would probably be home by now. :)

Pam - Thanks for the words of encouragement. Please excuse me - but I'm not sure who you are. Can you please let me know? Thanks!

Tammy - I would love hear all about your plans for your adoption and if you are planning to have a blog. If so, I would love to have the address. You can email me at simsfamily3@gmail.com until I get home then I will resume using my old email address of sims121@charter.net. Good luck with your adoption and if you want more details that I haven't posted on the blog please feel free to contact via email or phone. My number is 256-878-6591.

Carolyn - I haven't taken many pictures lately but will try to send some soon.

Karen - It sounds like I will miss being able to meet you while in UK but would love to when we are both back in the states. Right now the plans are for me to be in Simferopol on Tuesday. My apartment was up the hill from TGIFriday's but I moved yesterday. I'm not close to anything I know. I can see St. Andrews from my balcony but it doesn't look close. My cell number here is 380973884839.

Melissa is right, the international calling cards from the states doesn't work in Paris or UK. The calling cards in UK are expense (so I'm told). Calls to the US on a UK cell phone is .60 per min. and between 9PM - 6AM it's .30 per min. Local calls are .14 per min. All incoming calls are free. Skype.com is the best!!!!! If you don't have a laptop you can still use Skype at any internet cafe, but I would setup an account at home before traveling. Much easier. You can type in your account name and password in English but the rest of the site is in Russian, so remember with everything is on the site. Skype is the best lifeline home.

Melissa - I got the best night's sleep night before last. Probably because I was exhausted from 2 days in Simferopol. Whatever the reason I am grateful.

From the time I started writing the blog I have moved to Ben's apartment and have washed clothes. I have never been so happy to wash clothes in my life. :) The clothes aren't too stiff once I iron all of them. Not so happy about that part. Ironing, ugh!! Now the towels are another story. They are stiffer and scratchier than the ones in hotels at home.

I will mention Plan Z to Sasha. He will find it humorous.

Sara, Anthony, & Abe - I know you can relate. I am doing fine. Less than a week to go. You are so right, I am not alone - as Christa mentioned I have a Wall of Prayer surrounding me.

Lauri, Hunter, & Haley - It's great hearing from you. I got the shopping done you requested. Jacob helped. :) Amen! UK has had me & Jacob long enough. I'm pretty confident that will be headed home Thursday. I hope you are coming through on the 19th since it's Sunday & I will be off work. The 20th I will be at work unless it's in the evening. Remember if you need to stay with us you can. I look forward to seeing you and Hunter and meeting Haley.

Alisa - You said it!! It stinks!!!!! I'll give you a call after we get settling in at home and we can have a play date for the kids.

Beth - I'll call you late Monday when I get more information. I still have to talk to Sasha for you. Maybe I'll see you Tuesday. Hang in there, you are in my prayers. Tammy is great. I was glad to hear you were spending some time with her.

Jacob is finally eating more. Yesterday for breakfast he had dry cereal, shared a bowl of wet cereal with me, most of a banana, Pringles, and goldfish. I think that's all. I got some snacks at the supermarket yesterday and he snacked quite a bit yesterday afternoon. He had mashed potatoes for supper. He fed himself some of it.

Today he had 3 bowls of cereals, small of course, but still a lot of him. He had some juice, some Pringles, and some little crackers. I'm now about out of cereal so I will be headed back to the supermarket today for more. That's great.

He slept 13 hours last night, then gave me the worst diaper ever!!!! I had to revert back to the orphanage tactics of cleaning poopy diapers. They hose them down with a water hose. Literally. I use the shower head on him, then gave him a bath, which the orphanage didn't do. So I guess that wasn't too bad. James, you are lucky you aren't here or you would have had diaper duty on that one. Oh, yeah!!!

Jacob is doing so good taking his medicine. The last 5 times I have given it to him he hasn't even whimpered. Knock on wood.

Well, I'm going to make a couple of phone calls, then try to nap. I will post tomorrow when I have news.

We love and miss you all and look forward to seeing you all soon!!!!

God Bless,

Teresa & Jacob

14 DAYS CONTINUED

Let me back up a little. I was very tired from the stress and too little sleep when I posted earlier. There are a few things I wanted to mention. This world has some wonderful people in it that will help anyone in need. It has been a blessing from God that we met Matt and Tammy. Tammy was kind enough to let me stay with them when I was back in Simferopol. We had some more fried chicken and watched a movie. Tammy went with me to the Passport Bureau and took care of me. I had been sick feeling all night and Wednesday and all day Thursday. She went to get me something to eat and drink. She and Matt took me back to the airport on Thursday. Tammy and Matt are coming back to the states in November and are coming to visit and stay with us for a couple of days. I really hope some of you get to meet them.

Then there is Paul, my great taxi driver. He spent the whole afternoon Wednesday and all of Thursday helping me with the passport office people. He only charged me for his gas. I told him that wasn’t enough. He said for me to call him if I needed him again when and if I return to Simferopol, which looks like I will on Monday. Maybe someday Paul will visit the states again. I would love to see him again. He is the kindest Ukrainian I have met.

Then there is Beth. She is here in Simferopol adopting two older children, Sasha age 11 and Anya age 9. She and her husband have 4 boys at home. Her husband had to go home 2 weeks ago. Beth is here alone trying to survive and communicate with the children. Tammy was a big help to her yesterday afternoon. Beth is now on day 10 of waiting for her passports. She is under tremendous stress. Please pray that everything will work out soon for her also. Her boys at home need her too. She has been in Ukraine since June 11th, I think. Somewhere around that date anyway.

The only word from Sasha is they are still working on it. Hopefully, today but not looking good so far. I am still hopeful to travel back to Simferopol on Monday and back to Kiev. Then do the medical and visa on Tuesday and Home on Wednesday. If so, the journey will have exactly 2 months. The flight is now scheduled for Huntsville again, instead of B’ham.

I think Jacob and I are moving again. Ben has offered his apartment at a cheaper rate with Internet access. There are restaurants with English menus in the area. He has a washer, so I can actually wear clean clothes for a change. I think there is a small park of some sort that Jacob can play at.

Karen – Mama told me she talked with you and you will be in Kiev on Tuesday. It looks like I will still be here. I would love to meet you and your daughter. Mama said she will give you my cell phone number for here.

Thanks for the great comments.

Clark - It was so good hearing from you. Thank you so much for the words of encouragement and the verses. I can't wait to get together and meet Jordan. Tell Jenny hi and Andrew said if I talk with you to tell you guys hi.

I will post again when I have more news.

God Bless,

Teresa & Jacob

DAY 14 TRYING TO GET A PASSPORT

I guess you all are wondering what is going on. Well, I can tell you, not enough. Sasha is working very hard to resolve the issues surrounding the passport. I went to Simferopol on Wendesday as planned with the intent of only being there for the day. Well, you know Ukraine by now, most things don't go as planned. Paul, my taxi driver and freelance translator, and myself spent the whole afternoon waiting at the Passport Bureau just to find out that the guy that was supposed to help us wasn't even there. We found out later he was actually in Kiev. So I talked with Sasha and he said I had to stay another day. He said the General (top dog) in Kiev would be calling the Chief (top dog) in Simferopol to tell him he had to give me a red passport. Paul, Tammy, and myself spent the whole day, from 9:40 AM to 4:30 PM minus the hour for lunch at the passport office while the Simferopol Chief and the guy 2nd in charge in Kiev argued all day as to whether I was getting a passport or not. The Chief won out. I came back to Kiev empty handed. Andrew and Sasha are working on two different angles today to try to get me a dark blue passport today. It is now almost 11:00 AM and no word yet. We may get the passport today but we most likely will not get the medical or visa and with this being Friday it will get Monday before I can get these and hopefully get plane tickets to come home Tuesday.

Jacob did well spending the night with Ben and Tanya. He still won't eat much. I think he eat so little yesterday that his tummy was hurting earlier this morning from hunger. He feels fine now. Oh, he has a little black eye. He ran into the corner of Ben's glass dining room table. He is all boy.

I will post again later today with news from Sasha.

With Love,

Teresa & Jacob

HEADED BACK TO SIMFEROPOL

Well, I got news today that I can go back to Simferopol tomorrow to get Jacob a red passport. We have gone from getting a blue, to a red, to a dark blue, back to red. I don't care what color it is as long as it gets us home.

I leave at 8:00 AM to go to the airport for a 9:50 flight. I arrive at 11:20 and should make it to the Passport Bureau by 12:00 which only gives me an hour to try to complete it before lunch. If not, I will have to go back in the afternoon which is ok except that the sooner it is in my hand to better I will feel about actually getting it completed so I can head back to Kiev and Jacob. My flight isn't until 9:10 PM which is the first available leaving Simferopol. Ben and Tanya are being kind enough to keep Jacob all day. I have been told this will completed tomorrow.

Then Thursday we will do the medical and the visa which is supposed to be completed by the end of the day. As it stands right now our flight isn't until Saturday because there are no available flights on Friday. The lady at Delta said she would keep checking for anything that may come available. If we fly Saturday it will be from Kiev, to New York, to Cincinnati, to Birmingham arriving at 8:20 PM.

I just spoke with Lynn Gulley, who is here from Birmingham adopting a 15 year old girl named Christina, a little while ago and they got their passport in ONE day. That is great for them and I am happy for them. We started 12 days ahead trying to get ours. I will never understand this country, so I've stopped trying. I'm just glad there is finally light at the end of this tunnel.

Thanks again to everyone for all your thoughts, prayers, and comments. It sure helps knowing we having such wonderful people thinking and praying for us. All things are possible with God. I am learning more and more it is in his time not mine.

God Bless You,

T & J

A DAY OF REST

Still no passport. We are hopeful for Monday, which means we should be come Thursday provided we don't have any problems with the visa.

Jacob and I went souvenir shopping down the cobblestone streets of Kiev yesterday for about 3 hours. He couldn't keep his hands off anything. I think I spent more time getting him to leave stuff alone than actually shopping. Then we ate McDonalds (yugh). He got tired of walking and would put his arms in the air and say "Upa". I would pick him up and carry him for a while. Needless to say, we were both tired when we got in. I thought he would fall asleep very fast, but it took longer to go to sleep and it was later than usual.

He did better at both restaurants yesterday. Maybe we will be able to go out to eat after all. I am so proud of him. He is adjusting so well. He's my little trooper. He is down to taking only one medication and doing well. I can tell he is a little more hyper but it is still normal for a 2 year old.

We don't have any plans for today. Maybe we will rest a lot today. It rained and thundered a lot last night so it's probably cool outside this morning. If it's nice this afternoon we may go back to the fountains. There is a park nearby that Tanya (Ben's wife) told me about.

I finally have Skype (Internet calling) back thanks to Scott and Melissa. It was great talking with Christa, Becca, Lauri, and of course, Mama, Daddy, Melissa, and James.

Sara and Anthony's friend - Thanks for the words of encouragement and your prayers.

I will go for now, before Jacob wakes up. I will post again tomorrow with news about the along waited passport.

With Love,

Teresa & Jacob

HOPEFUL FOR TOMORROW

I talked with Sasha just a little while ago. No passport today. We are still hopeful for tomorrow. They (whoever they are) work half days on Saturday, so it is possible we can get the passport overnighted to Simferopol tomorrow. Then Andrew and myself both will have to go to Simferopol to get it. They will not allow Andrew to get with a Power of Attorney as we had hoped. I am going to try to go to Simferopol by myself so I don't have to buy two plane tickets. I will be checking into this tomorrow. Hopefully, Ben's wife Tanya will be keeping Jacob for me to travel to Simferopol. If it is done tomorrow, and I travel to & from Simferopol Monday, then do the medical and visa on Tuesday, hopefully we can travel home Wednesday. As of right now I am being told there are no available flights on Tuesday or Wednesday, so I booked Thursday. Please pray if we get done by Tuesday a flight will come available for Wednesday.

Here are the pictures I promised earlier.

God Bless,

Teresa & Jacob

FUN AT THE FOUNTAIN

Still no passport. Sasha is still working hard. Still hoping for good news later today. All in all, we had a good day yesterday. I am finding out he is a holy terror in all restaurants. He wants everything on the table he can’t have. He wants his food as soon as it arrives. He somewhat understands “hot” but that doesn’t seem to matter when it comes to food. He only wants to eat potatoes (only fries) and bread (only certain kinds). If he doesn’t get what he wants in a nano-second he throws an all out fit. Needless to say, we won’t be doing a lot of eating out when we get home.

We had a blast at the fountain yesterday with Sara, Anthony, and Abe. I will post pictures later. I didn’t get any shopping done yesterday. I may try today, if not tomorrow. Well, we need to go for now. Jacob needs to be changed and put down for a much needed nap.

I appreciate all the prayers. Tell everyone we love and miss them. I so miss being in church.

God Bless,

Teresa & Jacob

AWAITING NEWS FROM SASHA

Well it is just Jacob and myself. James went to the US Embassy this morning, signed some papers, then went to the airport. His flight should be leaving in about 25 minutes. Please pray he does fine and doesn't miss either flight from New York or Atlanta.

Jacob did really good during the flight from Simferopol to Kiev. I fed him Cheerios most of the flight. It kept him distracted from the seat belt he had to wear. We got off the plane outside and had to take a bus to the terminal. He did fine even with all the people, but as we were getting off he just started crying. It didn't last but a minute and he was fine. I am hopeful the entire flight won't be bad, just some of it.

We got him in the bed around 12:30 AM. I couldn't believe it when he woke up at 7:30. He has been sleeping 9-11 hours with a 2 hour nap. Hopefully he will have a good long nap today. It was good he woke up so James could see him before he left.

Jacob actually ate this morning. He ate all of his oatmeal. Giving him his medicine is a tiny bit better. I am hoping it will be better when I can get some that is flavored.

Praise the Lord, the monkey backpack is working. He didn't like it at first. I had him wear it in the room and it didn't take to long before he was used to it. He wore it to the Coffee Shop where they have wireless internet access. Several people on the street just looked at him, then me and smiled. Amazing it this a monkey backpack to get anyone to smile at you.

I am patiently (well trying) waiting to hear from Sasha with great news about the passport. When we got here last night close to midnight Sasha met us, then Andrew went with him to give him our paperwork so he could start on it right then. I was very thankful and surprised. Hopefully, that means good news for us.

Ben will be here shortly to take me shopping. Such a welcome change. Well I've got to go for now. Jacob is getting fussy having to wait on me.

James - Don't worry too much. We are fine.

Love,

Teresa & Jacob

HOPEFUL FOR A PASSPORT

We can not get a passport here in Simferopol for 10 days. After several phone calls back and forward between Andrew, Sasha, & Ben we are hopeful for a passport tomorrow or Friday in Kiev. Therefore, we are traveling back to Kiev tonight. Poor Jacob has had a bad day like the rest of us and now we have to put him thru a new experience, the plane ride. Please pray all goes well. Even with the hope of a passport tomorrow James and I have discussed this and agree it is time for him to go home. Dr. Pepper and Frank have been extremely wonderful in working with James and we can't express how truly thankful we are for this. With that said we still feel he needs to go back to work. We aren't afraid of me and Jacob being alone, but we are little concerned about the long plane ride home and going thru customs and not missing any flights. Melissa - We really appreciate the offer to come over and help, but we will be fine. Mama will be home to help with Jacob when we arrive exhausted. Please continue to pray for a speedy process and a smooth, uneventful flight home. As always, we love and miss you all.

God Bless,

JTJ

STILL NO PASSPORT

This will be short. We still don't have a passport for Jacob. Hopefully, tomorrow. Please pray hard and ask everyone you know to please pray. We are so tired and weary, all of us. We are so homesick. If we don't have a passport tomorrow James will be coming home without me and Jacob. I am not looking forward to a 10+ hour plane ride without his help. We need to have that passport tomorrow. All things are possible with God.

No pictures today. I left James at the apartment getting Jacob ready for bed.

God Bless,

JTJ

NOT ONE DAY AND COUNTING

As some of you may already know we will not be coming home tomorrow. We have had some issues with getting Jacob’s passport. It seems Ukraine has chosen now to change their passports and we have to have an international passport, which is now red. Several regions are running out of blank red passports so we are waiting for some to arrive here in Simferopol. We had hoped they could arrive by train or plane today but this isn’t the case. Hopefully we will get it tomorrow but it will be late in the day, which means we plan to take a late flight to Kiev. We still plan to get the medical exam and visa completed on Wednesday and travel home on Thursday. Of course this too could change. I just got off the phone with Delta and we have the same flight schedule as before.

We are hoping the Passport Bureau will let Andrew pick up Jacob’s passport without James or I present when it is ready. We want to leave today for Kiev so we can have a change of scenery, eat better food, do some site seeing, and shopping. Andrew is going to ask when he goes back to the Bureau after lunch. No one would even answer any questions until after lunch. As I am typing this it is 4:00 AM at home and I’m sure no one will read it before we have an answer about leaving for Kiev today or I would ask you to pray, but please do pray we can come home on Thursday.

On to better news, Jacob is adjusting well. The first two nights he slept 11 hours, last night he slept 9 hours with a 2 hour nap yesterday late afternoon. I had to wake him up for fear he might not go to sleep that night. He still loves bath time, more so the water than the bath itself. I can’t wait to get home and him and Matthew can play in the “kick pool”. He has a pretty good appetite. He doesn’t seem real fond of the strawberry oatmeal but he had almost a whole banana for breakfast. He probably would have eaten more if we had something he liked. The caregivers said he likes yogurt drinks, but he didn’t like the one we got him. They also said he likes porridge “oatmeal” but he doesn’t now. He ate McDonald’s again yesterday for lunch and he had 6 McNuggets and a half pack of fries. At this rate he will be gaining weight pretty fast. He needs to. We figured out yesterday that some of the clothes we bought are too big. He is really between 12 and 18 month clothes. The 18 month clothes I bought him just hang on him or in one case the shorts fall off of him. He is so skinny.

Papaw – Jacob said his version of Papaw yesterday evening walking back from eating. He said it again today. He had said something that sounded like Nana about two weeks ago but we are still working on associating the word with the picture.

He rides in the taxi’s with no problems. He walks down the sidewalk next to a lot of traffic with no problems. He tried to follow Andrew when he got up at the café the other night. He still has a temper when he doesn’t get what he wants but things are getting better each day.

Thank you all for thoughts, comments, and prayers. I know your prayers have helped him to adjust to all the changes he is going thru and will be over the next few weeks.

I love and miss you all with all of our hearts.

God Bless You ,

JTJ

FIRST NIGHT WITH MAMA & DADDY

Yesterday was a long and very busy day. We got to the courthouse at 8:20 AM and dropped Andrew off. Then Paul, our very nice English speaking taxi driver, took us to the orphanage to get Jacob so we could go get his passport pictures. We had to go see the doctor for a pass to take him out of the orphanage. This sounds simple but, of course, with everything in Ukraine it is not. Paul was kind enough to translate for us. We had to get the main doctor to sign the pass. We also had to have a caregiver go with us. They chose one, but Jacob wasn’t familiar with her, so we got Tanya, one of his favorite.

Jacob’s first car ride. Tanya got in the car with him and he whined, so she got out and waited a minute or two. When she got back in the car she entertained him with toys. He did fine. It was a short ride. We got to the photo shop (and I use the term shop loosely) to find they hadn’t open yet. The sign said 9:00 AM and it was 9:20. As Paul said, very typical of Ukraine. The lady showed up a couple minutes later. After about 15-20 shots we took the best 2 shots there were. We were close enough to the orphanage that Tanya walked back with Jacob and we waited about 10 minutes for the pictures. During this time Andrew still hadn’t got our court decree.

Around 10:30 Andrew called and had the court decree and had dropped off the passport application and asked us to meet him at the notary office. After that we had to go back to the orphanage to talk with the doctor. The doctor along with James and myself had to sign some more paperwork. For a child that we were told was fine with no neuro problems we now find out Jacob takes 2 different medications everyday. He is also taking some pills for 7-10 days. The only explanation for the meds is to keep him calm. Needless to say, I will be finding more asap. Back to the whirlwind day. We finally headed for the birth city of Armiansk at 11:30 to get the new birth certificate. This was a 5 hour trip. We got back to the passport office to find out we couldn’t get the passport until the morning due to the main guy leaving at 2:00. Hopefully we are not going to have any problems getting the passport this morning or we will be here in Simeropol until Monday at least.

Then as we are headed to the orphanage to pick up Jacob the lawyer calls and says we have to sign some MORE papers take them to the Inspector’s office for the Inspector to sign then back to the orphanage and give the paperwork to the doctor. Throw in a couple of short visits to the orphanage director’s office too.

We finally got to pick up Jacob. While James and Andrew went to see the doctor for the last time, thankfully I was getting Jacob changed into his new BOY clothes with one exception. I didn’t bring socks because it is 90 degrees and I have him sandals, but the caregiver just had to put socks on him and, you guessed it, they were girly socks.

He did GREAT during the car ride to the apartment. They dropped Jacob and myself off at the apartment then went to get medicine and, again you guessed it, McDonald’s. Jacob instantly went to exploring the apartment and went straight to one of the suitcases and started unloading it. We have found out that Jacob likes fries and chicken McNuggets. He ate very well. I had a caramel sundae and James wanted me to give Jacob some. I told James he wouldn’t like it because he is not used to cold stuff. I let him try a bite and he spit it out. I’m sure in time he will come to love it like all kids. After he ate we gave him his first real bath in a tub. He LOVES bathtime. Like most kids he loves to splash. He isn’t afraid of the water at all. He was pouring water over his head and it was running all in his face.

We had a small problem with bedtime. He cried for a few minutes. I rocked him in my arms for about 20 minutes and he fell asleep. He is a very restless sleeper. We tried letting him and James sleep in the bed and I slept (for a while) on the little sofa in the kitchen. Sometime around 11:30 he fell off the bed. I don’t think he completely woke up but when I got to him he was standing up. I decided to try to sleep with them. James and I neither one got much sleep. Jacob slept for 11 hours. He was a little slow moving this morning.

He fed himself oatmeal for breakfast, what wasn’t all over him. So of course he needed another bath this morning. James handled the bath while I have been typing this blog. Then the big fight came. He swallowed his pill last night with no problem, but this morning he didn’t want the syrup. We tried to give him his medicine and he spit it out all down the front of himself. I didn’t want to put clothes on him until he took his medicine but I should have put a diaper on. Oh yeah, he did it. He wet me good. You would think I would have learned from being around Matthew and listening to Melissa and Scott. Chalk it up to sleep deprivation. It took James and I both to get him to take he medicine and he is happily playing right now. I could use any advice on how to get a child to take liquid medicine.

We are planning to go a park near the apartment in a little while. Hopefully Shelby can bring her kids over to play with him.

Well James has breakfast ready so I’ll go for now. Hopefully the next post will be from Kiev.

Love,

JTJ

PARTY DAY

Our whirlwind has started. We visited Jacob yesterday morning and Tammy went with us. She was able to get the monkey backpack on Jacob but as usual he still didn’t like it. She did try to explain to him what it is. Tammy also tried to explain about the airplane ride and the sippy cup. It was a good visit. After we left we spent the rest of the day with Matt and Tammy.

Tammy decided we didn’t need to go to Cave City because it was so hot yesterday and we was a 4 km hike round trip. We went to the Botanical Gardens in Alushta. It was very nice. They had large trees, bushes, roses, a butterfly expo, and a Bonsai expo. Then after the Botanical Gardens we headed to Yalta. The best place to see in all of the Crimea Region is Yalta. We ate at an Italian restaurant. The food was great. The best food we have had since we came to Simferopol, except Tammy’s fried chicken. Nothing has ranked higher that Tammy’s fried chicken. No kidding! After we ate we needed to walk it off so we went to the Boardwalk and did some shopping. We had a wonderful relaxing day with our new friends. Thank you Tammy and Matt.

We were suppose to get Jacob’s passport picture done today but Andrew’s flight was 3 hours late so we will be doing that tomorrow along with go to get the court decree, see the notary to notarize to passport application, going to the birth city for the new birth certificate, and getting Jacob from the orphanage. Pray we get all this accomplished in one day.

Now for the party. Shelby made cupcakes, which were wonderful. She also provided to cute plates and napkins. Tammy brought stuff for a game and some fruit. We also had Pringles and Multi Vitamin juice. The kids loved it. The doctor wanted to see us about some paperwork as soon as we got there, so Tammy went with us to translate. Shelby was wonderful and set up the party by herself. She came to check on us because to kids were getting antsy waiting. The kids ate and had a great time. James got some great pictures. Anton couldn’t come to the party because he has been in the hospital and after coming back to the orphanage from the hospital the child is made to stay away from the group for 21 days. I promised the German couple adopting him that I would bring him a cupcake. I tried but couldn’t find them. James did find them later. Needless to say, I missed most of the party, but everyone still had a good time. We found out yesterday that Vika is being adopted. We met her new family today. They are from Spain and are very nice. They adopted a little boy 2 years ago from Ukraine. Vika’s brother’s name is Lennon. He was so good with her today. You can tell they are all so happy to be getting her. The mother’s name is Teresa. Vika’s name will be Teresa Victoria. It was a bittersweet moment for me. I would still love to have her but I am thrilled she is being adopted by a nice family. She is so happy with them already. They came in after we did today and she ran straight to them as soon as she saw them. Please continue to remember all the adorable little kids in the orphanage that still need a loving family.

Also please remember Shelby, Matt, and their kids as they travel to Siberia for their mission work.

Love,

JTJ

8 DAYS LEFT

I didn't get a chance to type up the blog before we came to the Internet Cafe so this will be short. We went to eat a new restaurant (new to us) in Sevastopol about an 1 hr and a half away. Matt and Tammy took us. The place was called the Potato House and it was on the Black Sea. The atmosphere was great. It was wonderful spending time with Matt and Tammy.

We are going to some Cave City on Wednesday with Matt and Tammy. We are looking forward to this. We are in desperate need of something different to do. Andrew will be back Thursday and then we will be in a whirlwind of different things to do. We are also looking forward to that too. It means we are closer to coming home.

We've had some more good visits with Jacob. I think he is also already for something different. We manage to get about an hour and half visit each day before he starts to get fussy. The picture is of Jacob after HE has put on his sunglasses.

I know some of you are reading the other blogs we have links to and probably know there have been issues with the passports. Please pray that everything will go smooth when we go to get Jacob's passport and visa.

God Bless You All!!!!

Love,

JTJ

10 DAYS TO GO

Yesterday was a good day. It has rained so we stayed inside. We had a good time laughing and playing. James pulled him in the wagon. James and I both pushed him in the little car that is in the pictures. He laughed and giggled a whole lot. He learned a new word. Beep Beep. He would blow the horn on the car say beep beep.

Today started out the same way. It has rained a lot so we stayed in again. We played with the wagon and car. He remembered his new word. Then out of the blue he started crying and throwing one major fit. Nothing I did helped. We think he wanted to go outside but it was too wet and messy. He also has a runny nose and we didn’t want to make it worse. It gets pretty cool in the shade.

Tanya said he acts like he is on the phone and says Mama. He has even cried wanting to talk to me. He is understanding us more and more each day. He is starting to do the same thing we do. When he drops a Cheerio, Pringle, or fish in the dirt we grind it into the ground so he can’t pick it up and eat it. He used to try to eat it. Now he stomps it with his foot.

We need to get home quick before James gets thrown into jail for having an all out brawl with the taxi driver. The taxi driver tried to charge us double today and James wasn’t having it. This is the second time we have had problems with this one taxi driver. We have now requested for the taxi company to not send him to pick us up again. Pray that James can keep his cool so we can leave on schedule. Otherwise, I may be coming home without him. Just kidding.

Since things aren’t changing much each day we have decided to slow down on the posts. We are planning to post again Monday, then Thursday, then Friday or Saturday, whichever time permits. Then we will be in Kiev and will plan to post on Sunday (probably) and late Monday (last post from Ukraine, hopefully).

We love and miss you all. See you SOON.

JTJ

12 DAYS AND COUNTING

We had a really good time last night celebrating the 4th of July. We met an American couple and their two children from Atlanta. Their names are Kevin, Renee, Isaac & Jacob Michael. We also met a couple with three children. Amy is from California, Zenia is from Russia, and their 3 kids are Eli, Matthew, and Jonathon. Shannon is a single girl from some part of the states that just returned from Israel. Also we met Julia Love from Australia. Shelby, Matt, Micah, Keegan, and Korah were all there along with Matt and Tammy. They are all Bible Missionaries.

We had BBQ chicken, beans, chips, potato salad, watermelon, and cookies. We played a water balloon game with the kids. We also played volleyball then we watched fireworks that Zenia and Kevin shot off for us.

The visit this morning with Jacob was not one of the better ones. It was very hot and he was in a bad mood. We are headed out now for the afternoon visit. Hopefully it will go better.

OK, we are back from our afternoon visit and it went much better. He played a lot today. He and Anton played together on the swing set, the slide, and the seesaw. It is still so hot and miserable outside, but inside would be worse. I expect it to stay this hot for the rest of our stay. Andrew came today and said it was cool in Kiev because it has rained. He has reviewed our court decree and said all was fine. He I understand him correctly he is now working on any paperwork we will need to get Jacob’s passport. He flew in this morning and is flying out tonight. He will be back next Thursday.

Melissa – I will try to post the orphanage address soon so you can send the donations.

Love,

JTJ

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

We had a good visit yesterday morning. I wasn’t feeling well in the afternoon so James went to visit by himself. He said Jacob was looking at me when he came in and a couple of other times too. Jacob did really well with him. He didn’t cry and he played a lot. He did really well sharing his fishes with Anton.

We had another good visit this morning. I got the monkey backpack on him today. He didn’t like it at all. For those of you who don’t know, it is a backpack with a leash. We are trying to get him used to it so we can use it in Kiev on Sunday and in the airports if needed. Also it buckles across his chest and we need him to get used to that for when we put him in a carseat.

We are looking forward to spending the afternoon with our American friends and celebrating our Independence Day. Being here really brings to mind what the 4th of July really means to and for us. We are a Blessed Country. We hope every one has a Happy 4th. We are really going to miss spending it with our family. Someone eat a good ole juicy hamburger and hot dog for us. Oh, and don’t forget the homemade ice cream.

We are at 13 days and counting. I love you and miss you all. Thank you for all the support, prayers, and comments. We look forward to the comments every day.

Love,

JTJ

WE ARE LEGAL

We are officially Jacob’s parents. He will be 100% ours on the 12th. We can breathe a little easier. We are truly on the countdown. We only got to see him once today and only for a few minutes. He clung to me more today than any day so far. Maybe he knew he was ours forever.

Court went great. We went in around 3:45 and it was over at 4:15. We met in the Judge’s office along with two supervisors, the prosecutor, two court reporters, the orphanage lawyer, Andrew, and ourselves. The judge and one supervisor asked all the questions, which wasn’t bad at all. Mostly just name, address, occupation, DOB, and did we want Jacob and we did we know it would be final today (no turning back). They all were really nice. They even wished me a happy birthday. And at the end they were joking about a cartoon here in Ukraine that is about the Sims. They asked if it was about us, then laughed. Then the judge said we could get the court decree in 10 days.

We want to thank every one for all your prayers. We are in such a good place right now. We love and miss you. 15 days and counting.

Love,

JTJ

GOOD MEETING

We went to church with Matt and Tammy this morning. The service was good. Of course, it was in Russian, but we met a guy named Vadim and he translated for us. It is a very small church that had 25 people present today. They people were quite reserved except for a couple of men until Matt (Shelby’s husband) got up and introduced us and told them why we are here in Ukraine. They all clapped and smiled at us. Vadim even wished me a happy birthday and again they all smiled. We met Matt and Shelby’s three children. There are precious. Micah is 7, Keegan is 4, and Cora is 3. Keegan is so friendly. He loves to talk. Cora kept smiling at me during the first part of the service. Micah is a little shy but he will talk. I never go anywhere without my camera, except for today. I forgot it. I hope to see the kids again. I want a picture to put on the blog.

After church we went to eat with Matt and Tammy. They are big on giving flowers here and Tammy’s mother is a florist, so Tammy wanted to buy me flowers for my birthday. It was a bouquet of 4 different colors of roses. They were beautiful. They have been so kind and helpful to us. They are truly a blessing along with Matt and Shelby.

We are going to celebrate the 4th of July with Matt and Tammy and some of their friends. I’m not sure if Matt and Shelby will be there. I hope so.

The visit with Jacob today was fine. He was happy to see us but was a little whiny today. When we went to take him back to his group for us to leave Vika was back with the group. She has had some kind of rash and hasn’t been with the group for several days. She came up to me wanting to be picked up, so I picked her up and she was all smiles. She likes playing with my hair. She even gave me a kiss. She is melting my heart. I wish I could bring her home. I would in a heartbeat. Even Tanya, the caregiver, said something to me and held up two fingers. I know she didn’t understand but I told her I would if I could and smiled at her. It is getting harder every day seeing these kids. I would like to bring them all home, especially Vika and Slavic. Salvic blows me kisses every day. I hate that this country makes it so long and hard to adopt.

Please remember us tomorrow. We go to court at 3:30 our time.

Love,

JTJ